At his home, Pierce went to his kitchen to get a drink when he saw the Winter Soldier sat behind him with his gun on the table when his housekeeper called out.
"I'm going to go, Mr. Pierce. You need anything before I leave?"
"No. Uh... it's fine, Renata, you can go home."
"Okay, night-night."
"Good night."
Renata left.
"Want some milk?"
The Winter Soldier didn't reply.
"The timetable has moved. Our window is limited. Two targets, Level Six."
He poured himself a glass of milk and went over to join the Winter Soldier at the table.
"They already cost me Zola. I want confirmed death in ten hours and don't touch Black Mage, bring her to me. We've been looking for her for a long time."
Just then Renata interrupted them as she entered the kitchen.
"Sorry, Mr. Pierce, I... I forgot my phone."
She noticed the Winter Soldier.
"Oh, Renata. I wish you would have knocked."
Pierce picked up the gun from the table and shot and killed her.
⍟ⴵ
Returning home from his morning run, Sam heard a knock at his door, he opened the door to see Steve, Nova Sadie and Natasha.
"Hey, man." Sam said.
"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve declared.
"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha added.
"Not everyone." Sam said as he let them in.
Later, as Nova was cleaning herself in the bathroom, Steve noticed Natasha looking sad and thoughtful, "You okay?"
"Yeah." Natasha replied.
"What's going on?"
"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."
"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."
"I owe you."
"It's okay."
"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"
"I would now. And I'm always honest."
"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."
"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."
Sam entered in the room as Nova got out the bathroom.
"I made breakfast. If you guys... eat that sort of thing."
"So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked.
"Pierce." Steve replied.
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Natasha added.
"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."
"So was Jasper Sitwell." Nova added.
"So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Steve stated.
"The answer is: you don't." Sam replied, dropping a file in front of Steve.
"What's this?" Nova asked.
"Call it a resume."
"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you. You didn't say he was a para-rescue." Natasha added.
"Is this Riley?"
"Yeah."
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?" Natasha asked.
"No. These." Sam gave Steve another file and opened it.
"Cool!" Nova exclaimed.
"I thought you said you were a pilot." Steve declared.
"I never said pilot."
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in." Sam replied.
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Nova asked.
"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."
"Shouldn't be a problem." Steve concluded.
Steve threw down the file on the table that was a classified military project called Falcon.
⍟ⴵ
After their meeting was over Sitwell walked out of the building with Senator Stern.
He got a call from Pierce and turned to his men, "I need a minute. Bring the car around."
They left as he picked up the phone, "Yes, sir."
"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious." Sam said.
"Who is this?"
"The good-looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o'clock."
Sitwell looked around but didn't see him.
"Your other ten o'clock."
Sitwell turned the other way and saw Sam sitting a few feet away from him.
"There you go."
"What do you want?"
"You're gonna go around the corner, to your right. There's a grey car, two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a ride."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up."
Sitwell looked down at his tie and saw a small red light from the gun being pointed at him.
Steve threw Sitwell across a rooftop, Natasha and Nova Sadie followed behind him.
"Tell me about Zola's algorithm." Steve said.
"Never heard of it." Sitwell replied.
"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"
"I was throwing up, I get seasick."
"You know I can get inside your head and find out everything... only, it's very painful, so if you don't want to suffer, you better cooperate." Nova said as her eyes changed colour.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Steve forced Sitwell to the edge of the rooftop, Sitwell just smiled.
"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers."
"You're right. It's not. It's hers."
Steve stepped aside and Natasha kicked Sitwell off the roof. He plummeted down, screaming.
"Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, Laura...?" Natasha said.
"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?" Steve replied.
"Yeah, she's cute."
"Yeah, I'm not ready for that."
But then, Sam, in his Falcon jet-pack suit with wings, flew up holding Sitwell and threw him down on the roof.
Steve, Nova Sadie and Natasha walked towards Sitwell, he held his hand up in fear.
"Zola's algorithm is a program... for choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell said.
"What targets?" Steve asked.
"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."
"The Future? How could it know?"
"How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."
"And what then?" Nova asked.
"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me."
"What then?!" Steve repeated.
"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."
⍟ⴵ
The five were in Sam's car and were driving to Triskelion.
"HYDRA doesn't like leaks." Sitwell said.
"So why don't you try sticking a cork in it." Sam added.
"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here." Natasha said.
"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly." Steve said.
"What?! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea-"
Suddenly the Winter Soldier landed on the car roof, pulled Sitwell out through the window and threw him into the oncoming traffic, killing him. Natasha and Nova watched in shock as they heard footsteps on the roof.
The Winter Soldier then started shooting at them, Natasha jumped on Steve in the front seats while Nova pressed herself against the door.
Steve pulled the break handle making the Winter Soldier fly onto the street. He slowed down and stopped, thanks to his metal arm.
The four stared with open mouths as he got up slowly looking at the four in the car.
As another car smashed into the four's car and pushed them along, the Winter Soldier jumped back onto their car, smashed through the windscreen and pulled out the steering wheel.
"Shit!" Sam shouted.
Natasha started shooting at him but the Winter Soldier jumped onto the vehicle behind them, as the four's car was being pulled off the road, Nova jumped in the front seats, holding onto her father as he held on to the car door.
"Hang on!"
He broke open the door, holding onto the three. They slid on the car door through the streets.
The Winter Soldier was joined by HYDRA agents and they started shooting at them, the four scattered and ran off in different directions with the Winter Soldier shooting at the two women.
Natasha managed to shoot him in his eye goggle mask and they ran off.
"Они мои. Я позабочусь о них. Найди его." (They're mine. I'll take care of them. Find him.)
The Winter Soldier went in pursuit of Natasha and Nova as the HYDRA agents went after Steve and Sam who both managed to fend them off as they shot at them.
Steve then noticed the Winter Soldier in pursuit of the two women.
"Go, I got this!" Sam shouted.
The Winter Soldier thought he had found them hiding behind a car as he could hear their voices.
"I make an LZ, twenty-three hundred block of Virginia Avenue. Rendezvous two minutes. Taking fire above and below expressway. Civilians threatened. Repeat, civilians threatened."
He rolled a bomb towards where he thought they were hiding. As the bomb rolled behind the car, they weren't actually there but a recording over their voices was being played back on a phone.
"I make an LZ, twenty-three hundred block at Virginia Avenue. Rendezvous two minutes."
The bomb exploded. Natasha jumped onto the Winter Soldier's back and tried to strangle him. He threw her off, and attempted to shoot her, but Nova came out from behind a car and threw an electric device which shocked his electric arm before they ran off.
He removed the device and recalibrated his arm.
"Get out of the way! Stay out of the way!" Natasha shouted.
Natasha suddenly got shot in the shoulder and fell down. Nova knelt before her, pressing on the wound. They looked around, only for the Winter Soldier to come up for behind, ready to shoot them.
Steve jumped in and blocked a punch from the latter with his shield before he kicked him away, followed by him blocking a few bullets from the Winter Soldier's Colt M4A1, Škorpion vz. 61, and SIG-Sauer P220ST.
The Winter Soldier briefly took Steve's shield, and threw it at him, but Steve managed to avoid being hit. Then they fiercely battled it out.
Eventually, Steve managed to stop the Winter Soldier's arm, and threw him away, the latter's mask falling off in the process.
He landed, and looked at an aghast Steve, whom by just looking at him, had learned his true identity.
"Bucky...?" Steve said, shocked.
"Uncle James?!" Nova said, incredulously, her eyes flutter with tears as she rose slowly, making steps forward.
"Who the hell is Bucky?"
As Bucky aimed his pistol at Steve, Sam flew in and kicked Bucky aside.
He had a brief look of realization, but he quickly brushed it aside and took aim again, but before he could shoot, Natasha used the grenade launcher he dropped against him.
He vanished in the smoke of the explosion.
Soon, the four heard sirens after which they were surrounded by HYDRA agents being led by Rumlow.
"Drop the shield, Cap! On your knees! Get on your knees! Now! Get down! Get down!" Rumlow yelled.
Steve held his hands up.
"Get on your knees! Down!"
He kicked Steve's leg and he knelt down.
"Don't move."
Rumlow looked at the helicopter flying above them and warned Rollins who was holding Steve at gunpoint.
"Put the gun down. Not here. Not here!"
Rollins lowered his gun, the HYDRA agents then took Steve, Sam, Nova and Natasha into custody.
⍟ⴵ
As the four was being escorted in a van.
"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me." Steve said.
"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago." Sam added.
"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."
"None of that's your fault, Steve." Natasha affirmed.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky and Nova."
Nova looked down as her eyes were full of tears and spoke in a broken voice, "I can't believe it... he had always been near me and I didn't know... those heartbreaking screams were his..." She stopped, narrowed her eyes, allowing tears to fall.
Sam noticed Natasha was bleeding from her shoulder and looked at the guards.
"We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."
Suddenly one of the guards pulled out an electric rod and neutralized the other guard and knocked him out, the guard was revealed to be Hill as she took off her helmet.
"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." Maria said.
Sam looked at her in confusion.
"Who's this guy?" she asked.
Rumlow's crew stopped their vehicles and got out.
"Three holes. Start digging. Don't touch Black Mage, Pierce wants her alive."
They went over to the van holding Steve, Sam, Nova and Natasha and as they opened the door, they found it empty with one of the guards left unconscious and massive burnt whole on the car floor.